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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22858654">Quality Time</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/corvidae9/pseuds/corvidae9'>corvidae9</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2004-07-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2004-07-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 19:01:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,391</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22858654</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/corvidae9/pseuds/corvidae9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Burrow is marked as a Death Eater target, and the twins disagree over the family's decision on how to respond.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Quality Time</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for strippedhalo in the singtoangels Fred-n-George ficathon on LJ, for a request from which I took the following: "twins... slash or gen, fic or art, any rating... Something physical... Or something at the Burrow. Lots of Weasleys... I'm equally pleased with angst or fluff, but I'd like a happy ending, please."</p>
<p>Beta read by my twinnie, bksncleverness, who remains awesome in all ways.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Fred and George both spoke at once, which was no surprise to anyone.</p>
<p>"That's brilliant!" exclaimed George.</p>
<p>"That's the bloody stupidest thing that I've ever heard!" bellowed Fred.</p>
<p>An entire Burrow full of Weasleys fell silent and stared incredulously at the twins who had never in their lives seemed to disagree about anything. At the same instant, Fred and George wheeled on each other. Two identical faces wearing identically shocked expressions shouted in one voice, "What?! Are you mental?"</p>
<p>Mothering instincts honed to a fine point finally overcame her shock, and Molly stepped in. "Boys! Boys, it's alright. We'll manage it together like we always have. It's... it's just something that happens, especially in wartime, and..."</p>
<p>Fred didn't take his eyes off of George, jaw still hanging open. "No Mum, it is not alright. It's <i>not</i> right! This is our home! We can't allow it to be destroyed just to let You-Know-Who think that he's scored a victory! Because he will have!" <i>"What could you possibly be thinking, Gred?"</i> he added as a furious afterthought aimed at his brother, and whether George could hear him or not, he was expecting an answer.</p>
<p>Eyes boring a hole into Fred's forehead trying to understand how his brother could be so thick, George said, "Fred, it's got to be done, for everyone's safety! If we fight it off or avoid it somehow, they'll know we have an informant; besides at Headquarters we can help out; we can turn our evil genius to Order business..." </p>
<p>"Thick, am I?" Fred answered the insult no one else had heard. "You're sodding unbelievable." </p>
<p>Exasperated, Ron piped in, "Bloody hell, you two don't even live here anymore!"</p>
<p>As one, the twins answered, "As of this morning, we do."</p>
<p>Ron quirked an eyebrow at at his mother, supremely confused, but Percy cut in gravely, "The shop. It... it was one of the Diagon Alley storefronts destroyed in the attack last night. Fred and George were lucky to have escaped."</p>
<p>Wiping her eyes, Molly said quietly, "Fred, Freddy, darling, you know that I've not always been thrilled with what you do for a living, but I am very proud of what the two of you have accomplished these past years, and I am so sorry for your loss, but we must move on. We must... we must make this sacrifice for the cause, and we'll all have to keep making them until You Know Who is defeated once and for all."</p>
<p>Fred stared at his mother now, watching the silent tears running down her face, and looked at each of his family members in turn, each ashen face more determined than the next; Bill's arm around Ginny, his red-rimmed eyes staring into the fireplace; Arthur's hand clasping Ron's shoulder; Charlie with his fingers clenched on the windowsill, white-knuckled and stony-faced.</p>
<p>Fred set his jaw and straightened his spine. "Fine. You want to destroy the only thing that we have left, knowing that our expansive Weasley fortune can just build another, right? Let's kill it all; erase all traces of our miserable existence and go cower at Headquarters? Is that it? Then fine. Do it."</p>
<p>As he made for the door, George tried to stop him, but Fred shoved the intruding hand away violently, fairly snarling, "Leave. Me. Alone."</p>
<p>Stunned, George bit his lip, for the first time feeling the weight of the family's gaze entirely upon him alone. He turned and started up the stairs, mumbling something that was intended for the family, but no one could make it out.</p>
<p>Arthur left Ron's side and pulled Molly close, wiping her tears away and gently speaking over her head, "Alright children, let's get moving. I want you to pack up only your most cherished belongings; go ahead and go through the house when you're done and take down whatever you find that is the most important to you, but remember, leave some things behind. Shrink what you've packed as far as you can, as quickly as you can; I will see you all to Headquarters within the hour."</p>
<p>No one moved.</p>
<p>Raising his voice slightly, he added, "Come now, this is serious, and this is happening! Tonight!" He took a breath, his eyes beginning to mist over as well. "Listen, it will all be set right soon. This is temporary; these are just things in a building - we need to make sure that our treasures are moved out of here quickly; and that means you. All of you. Now move... please?"</p>
<p>Charlie slammed his fist into the windowsill, startling everyone remaining in the room. He pulled the picture of Uncle Bilius bouncing he and Bill on his knees from the wall, shoved it in his jacket pocket, and strode out the door, slamming it on the way out. Molly burst into tears and Bill took the cue to herd Ron and Ginny towards the stairs.</p>
<p>Percy, who like his older brothers no longer lived here yet still had a room, stood in it, nonplussed, lips pressed tightly together. He looked at the neatly-made bed, the neatly-packed bookshelf, the-- ugh. He sighed and shrunk a rucksack of books and the single, ratty stuffed niffler that was hidden at the top of his closet, and then headed downstairs to help his parents.</p>
<p>Ginny pulled the sleeves of her faded flannel shirt down over her knuckles and ran to her room, waiting until the door was closed to fling herself across her bed one last time, soaking the worn, homemade blanket with bitter, silent tears. Five minutes later, she was on her feet, packing her trunk tightly with as much of her childhood as she could fit, barely sniffling at all.</p>
<p>One room away, Ron sat on his bed staring vacantly at the Chudley Cannons poster, frayed corners Spellotaped in place as they had been for as long as he could remember. These last weeks since leaving Hogwarts had been one long, unending nightmare; attacks, violence, bloodshed. Death and loss. He had been kept from becoming truly involved, nearly in hiding, even though he'd been of age for almost five months; the Order hadn't agreed to take him, and he couldn't very well go jobshopping with the mile-wide target on his back. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and hung his head, cursing himself for feeling hopeful. Hopeful that George had been right; that at Grimmauld, he could be of use; could do something other than watch and wait for the inevitable attack. Most importantly, hopeful that at Grimmauld, Harry and Hermione would be with him, and he could finally feel whole again. Slowly he stood and pulled the poster off of the wall, gently packing it away.</p>
<p>Already packed, Arthur and Molly began their last sweep of the house and outbuildings, hand in hand.</p>
<p>###</p>
<p>Fred sat at the edge of the lake, hurling stones as far as possible, knowing that he should really head back to the house; knowing that what one person wanted in a family this size was irrelevant; knowing that his childhood home would be no more than a smoking pile of green-glowing rubble by midnight, tainted by a filthy, floating Mosmordre. Sickened by the thought, he launched another pebble into the water. Unconsciously superheated by his anger, it exploded on contact with the glassy surface of the lake, sending a small cloud of very surprised birds flying into the twilight.</p>
<p>"Nice."</p>
<p>Being a twin, Fred was very much past being sneaked up on, and didn't even blink at the familiar voice.</p>
<p>"Bugger off, Dragon Boy," he growled. "Don't come and tell me that it'll all be set to rights again."</p>
<p>"'Dragon Boy', eh?", said Charlie, as he continued his approach. "Merlin, that's unoriginal. You MUST be upset."</p>
<p>"Piss the fuck off, Charles. How's that?"</p>
<p>"Meh," Charlie shrugged it off as he squatted low next to Fred. "I've heard worse, but I get the idea. For the record, Freddy, I don't think it's right, either."</p>
<p>"Bloody good job speaking up back there," said Fred, casting about for another stone.</p>
<p>"There's no point, Fred. I don't have to like it, but I can see why Mum and Dad so willingly agreed to it." Charlie held another rock out to Fred without turning to look at him. "You don't think they would have considered the alternatives? You don't think they're as shaken up about it or worse? They've lived here longer than you and I, after all."</p>
<p>"Hmm. Yes, thanks for that," said Fred as he snatched the rock. "That makes me feel much better."</p>
<p>"Really?" asked Charlie, obviously unconvinced.</p>
<p>"No, not really, idiot," said Fred. He flung the rock so hard, it left a trail of sparks as he snarled, "I. DON'T. CARE. I think we should stand and fight. Come on - seven fully qualified wizards and one little witch that's meaner than all her brothers put together - you don't think we could fight and win? Take out some of those filthy bastards and make them rue the day they set their sights on us?"</p>
<p>Charlie finally did turn towards his little brother. "Do you really think that you should fight and maybe die for a piece of land? Should Ginny? Mum? Ron? Me?"</p>
<p>"No one's going to die..." scoffed Fred.</p>
<p>"How do you know?" asked Charlie. "How the fuck do you know who or what they'd bring with them? Or how many would come knocking on the door? Just because 'our source' tells us ten doesn't mean that plans don't change. What do you do then, when the Anti-Apparition wards come up and you're cornered by twenty Death Eaters? Thirty? With your little brother and sister rushing out to get revenge on the lot of them? What then?"</p>
<p>Fred sat quietly, forearms resting on his knees, listening, coming to the realization that he had been wrong. Charlie was angry too, he knew, but Charlie was also right. He hung his head and let the tears that had waited patiently burst forth, spilling onto his face and the ground.</p>
<p>Charlie slipped his arm around Fred's shaking shoulders and squeezed for only a moment before speaking. "Little brother, as much as I support open expression of emotion as healthy, we need to get going. Alright there?"</p>
<p>Shoving Charlie half-heartedly, Fred smiled slightly. "Thank you, Oh wise one. It appears you don't entirely have shit for brains after all."</p>
<p>"Anytime, you little snot," Charlie answered as he rose from the ground neatly. "Now move!"</p>
<p>###</p>
<p>Packing what little remained in his and Fred's room in an old spare trunk, George had nothing to do but obsess on the small, dark space in his mind normally reserved for Fred.</p>
<p>He stood looking at the half-empty trunk, deciding that they probably had the most room to save family heirlooms, and started with the knitted blankets folded neatly at the ends of their beds. They had lost so much with the shop, so many years of research and savings, and yet much of it was replaceable. He and Fred could recreate most of what had been lost, formulas could be tinkered with until exact measurements were figured again; they'd even saved their main notebooks with parting Accios, and that was a start. But none of that, nothing, could matter if they lost a Weasley... and nothing would matter again without Fred... no amount of material possessions should come before his family.</p>
<p>It was time to go hunt Freddy down and beat sense into him, if necessary. He shut the half empty trunk, shrunk it far enough to tuck into a pocket, and began to make his way downstairs, ultimately in the direction of his idiot brother.</p>
<p>###</p>
<p>As Charlie extended a hand to his brother, a loud explosion of light and sound from just beyond the rolling hill in the distance knocked them both down again.</p>
<p>In a heartbeat, Charlie was back on his feet, wand in hand. "They're over there. Towards the Old Diggory place. Shit! we're out of time! MOVE!"</p>
<p>Fred shook his head and scrambled to his feet, aided by Charlie's hand on the collar of his shirt pulling him upright and into a dead run back to the house.</p>
<p>Two shadowy figures came running out from the garden shed, wands drawn, and as Fred began to hex them, Charlie clamped a hand over his mouth. He held the other in the air as he shouted, "Mum! Dad! It's us!!"</p>
<p>Sure enough, upon closer inspection, Fred could make out his mother's long sweater and Weasley hair shot through with gray and gathered into a bun, his father's balding pate reflecting the light from inside the house. All four resumed their headlong flight for the house, the boys making it through the door first.</p>
<p>"GINNY!! RON!! BILL!!! PERCY!!" Arthur and Molly shouted in varying order as they burst through the doorway a second after Fred and Charlie.</p>
<p>As it turned out, calling for them was mostly unnecessary. Bill stood holding Ginny's hand in the sitting room, his lip split but otherwise intact. Ron held three tiny trunks under his left arm, wand extended in the right, an uncanny mirror of Percy who stood in nearly the same position.</p>
<p>"GEORGE!!" shouted Fred, to no avail.</p>
<p>Molly said frantically, "Go! GO! Ronald! Percy! We're fine! Bill, take your sister and go!"</p>
<p>Bill nodded once before he and Ginny disappeared with a Crack. Ron opened and closed his mouth once or twice before running to his mother and hugging her tightly with his wand arm. He stepped back quickly and was gone with another Crack. Percy responded with a businesslike nod and was gone.</p>
<p>"Fred! Charlie!! GO NOW!! The boys looked at each other just as Molly's eyes widened.</p>
<p>"Fred--" she shouted, wand in hand, eyes roving the room. "Your brother?!"</p>
<p>###</p>
<p>Without further discussion, Charlie hit the stairs at a run in search of George, but Fred called out to him, "He's not there." Fred cast his eyes to the right, as though looking somewhere else entirely, then he added, "He's-- he's outside. Sodding idiot; why's he outside?"</p>
<p>Arthur headed towards the door saying, "Alright, get out, both of you - your mother and I will find him."</p>
<p>Fred and Charlie both answered, "No. I'm staying."</p>
<p>Molly also took no time to argue. She strode out of the house ahead of Arthur, growling in a strange new voice with a hard edge, "Keep up. And if you get hurt, I myself may kill you."</p>
<p>She did not take her eyes off of the horizon as they left the the house, but once the boys were clear, she stopped to whisper an incantation while tapping a complex pattern on the doorframe. When she straightened again, the house suddenly seemed more imposing, menacing in the rising half-moonlight; the shutters were sharper, the plants in the window boxes began snaking thorny vines out along the worn siding. Fred reached out to touch a trellis that was somehow different and she slapped his hand away.</p>
<p>"Don't. This house is now armed with a very... domestic self-defense mechanism. Let's just say you don't want to touch anything, and you certainly don't want to go back in, not that you could, if you tried. Your old Mum didn't join the Order to make tea and biscuits, love. Now. Quickly, where is your brother?"</p>
<p>Fred shut his eyes and thought hard at the purply spot reserved in his brain for George. "Ok. The stairs. Grass. His fat head. A Tree?! Dammit Gred, how about something specific?!" Then he caught sight of the tattered remnants of a treehouse he knew well, albeit more tattered than he remembered, and he popped his eyes open once again. "He's in the hollow."  Fred found himself following Charlie's gaze out in the direction of the woods to the right of the lake, his stomach clenching in dread as he took in the overgrown foliage now shaking unnaturally. Small explosions of light were crackling in the quiet night and smoke was beginning to rise from the very copse of trees that Fred had seen in his mind.</p>
<p>Before anyone could speak, a loud crack followed by a smaller one in the distance heralded Fred's disappearance. Charlie, Molly and Arthur all yelled, "NO!", but too late by far. In a moment, they were running again, only this time in the direction of the disturbance.</p>
<p>###</p>
<p>Rising onto all fours in the underbrush, George shook his head and immediately regretted doing so. He touched his hand to his temple and found a trickle of blood, just beginning to crust. He remembered just having entered the hollow when the ground shook, sending him sprawling headfirst into the underbrush. Dazed, he had lain there for a moment trying to sort up from down before the spells had started raining in his direction. Flat on the ground, he pulled his wand and lifted himself slightly in order to survey the situation.</p>
<p>At a loud crack nearby, George flattened himself again until he realized that he recognized the face crouched behind the tree trunk two feet away. "Fred?"</p>
<p>A whisper carried across more in his mind than to his ears, "Alright there, brother mine?"</p>
<p>Sighing with relief, George breathed, "Mostly, yeah. You?"</p>
<p>A bolt of red light smashed into the tree above Fred, cracking the trunk, and showering leaves on him. Ducking, he answered, "Fine really."</p>
<p>George tried not to move, partially to avoid attention, and partially to avoid causing his head to throb more than necessary. "Yeah? 'Sgood. Ideas?"</p>
<p>"Err. No, but you're still glad to see me, right?"</p>
<p>George grinned. "Proud as punch."</p>
<p>"Oh, and Mum has gone all warrior woman on us. She'll likely be here to save us in a mo'."</p>
<p>"You don't say?" George said with an attempt at a nonchalant nod, and pleased to note that he was no longer seeing stars with said attempt. "Not entirely surprising."</p>
<p>"No, I guess not," Fred agreed.</p>
<p>"Say Freddy," rasped George. "I did want to tell you off about being obstinate about the house, but I've changed my mind. Have I mentioned that I'm glad to see you?"</p>
<p>"Yeah," said Fred, scanning the nearby forest for a solution, any solution. "About that, no worries. Your brother Charles already told me off. I'm a prat. Done?"</p>
<p>"Done," said George, holding his hand out to Fred, half to steady himself.</p>
<p>"Good. Fine," said Fred, reeling him into a tandem crouch. "Shall we cry for Mummy or try and deal with these gentlemen all on our own so we can get the hell out of here?"</p>
<p>"How many?"</p>
<p>"Bloody good question."</p>
<p>"Shit."</p>
<p>"Yeah." George dragged a hand across his face and pulled his wand. Ready?</p>
<p>Fred answered with a small nod and they both popped slightly from behind their respective trees, shouting, "STUPEFY!"</p>
<p>Shrubbery crunching under a heavy weight sounded from the darkness as Fred and George ducked again. They shared another stupid grin as the activity around them died down.</p>
<p>"Careful. There are probably more," Fred whispered.</p>
<p>As if on cue, a hand slid unseen from the darkness over George's mouth and pulled him down. Fred bit his lip to stay quiet and launched himself at the attacker, crossing the short distance to tackle the struggling pair as one. Another bolt of red energy narrowly missed his shoulder blades as he dove, giving away yet another Death Eater in the distance.</p>
<p>The overly familiar attacker grunted loudly on impact, releasing George, and throwing Fred aside easily. "Dammit, Fred, get off,! Bloody idiot. Apparating into an unknown situation and attacking from a practically open position. Are you stupid, the two of you?"</p>
<p>George gasped. "Charlie?! Bastard! You nearly gave us a heart attack!"</p>
<p>"Exactly what I was trying to accomplish, then," groused Charlie distractedly, scanning the darkness.</p>
<p>Fred whispered, "Where're Mum and Dad?"</p>
<p>"Did you get a look at how many there are?" George added quickly.</p>
<p>"Listen. It looks that they've managed to bring up Anti-Apparition Wards that expand after they've been put down, so we're going to have to get far enough away on foot before we can make it out. Mum and Dad aren't far, I convinced them that I could sneak in closer and find you alone, and now I have. I'm going to cover you while you get the hell out; I'll follow a few minutes behind you and we'll meet at Headquarters.</p>
<p>"The hell you say," said both twins in one voice before beginning their customary rapid fire follow up.</p>
<p>"We all go."</p>
<p>"Together."</p>
<p>"Or not at all."</p>
<p>Pressing his hand to his forehead for just a moment before answering, Charlie said, "Mum is going to flay you. Us. Dad'll let her."</p>
<p>With a shrug, the twins said, "We'll risk it."</p>
<p>Charlie surveyed the area around them one last time and whispered, "Stay back. And get ready to run on my mark."</p>
<p>"Which way?" asked George.</p>
<p>"Towards the house that way, around the outskirts of the clearing, that way," Charlie answered, pointing out a slight gap in the thicket. "Cast a Protego beforehand and stay low".</p>
<p>Extending his wand, Charlie began a series of Locarnum Inferno and Incendio charms, creating a barrier of low flames about five feet ahead of them, causing a stir of activity in the distance.  "Cover your eyes," he whispered, and then cast what sounded like some sort of modified <i>Engorgio<i>. The previously tiny, guttering flames exploded in a blinding flash up and out into the trees, sending a backlash of heat towards the crouching brothers.</i></i></p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>"RUN!" Charlie hissed, and the twins did.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>###</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>They tore through the trees that they'd climbed up and swung from and hexed and crashed into all through their childhood, except much faster than when Bill chased them pretending to be a dragon, or when Percy threatened to tell mum about what they'd done to his books. Lashed by branches and bushes and wayward gnomes, they ran as hard as they could until they caught sight of their parents at the ready; wands up, standing back to back along the side of the broom shed.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>George panicked for a moment, realizing that his parents would never be able to keep pace with he and Fred and Charlie long enough to make it out of the expanding wards, even though the Death Eaters had been temporarily held up.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Catching and understanding George's worried look, Fred found himself concerned that the wards could have already made it too far for anyone to make it out.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Facing their direction, Molly saw them first and clutched at her chest. "Thank Circe!"</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Between panting breaths, Fred began to say, "Mum, you... dad... how..."</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Circling around the structure, Arthur blasted open the lock on the broom shed and grinned, "Alright boys, let's see what these old things can do."</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>###</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Flying low in as straight a line as possible away from the conflagration now in progress, as fast as the old brooms would take them, they covered more ground than even the boys could have at a full sprint.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Molly led, scanning constantly for signs that they had reached the weakest edges of the wards. Arthur trailed behind, watching for approaching trouble. A short way from their property line, Molly circled her broom and called out, "Here! Here! They're gone!"</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Arthur shouted, "GO! Go boys! NOW!"</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>George stumbled and Fred caught his hand as they leapt from the slowing brooms, pulling their wands and Apparating simultaneously with a sharper Crack than usual.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>###</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Molly and Arthur Apparated just behind 12 Grimmauld Place shortly after Charlie, and rushed in already panicking, only to find a room full of Weasleys laughing hysterically.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>All, that is, except Fred and George, who were now fused by their clasped right hands in sort of a permanent handshake.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>It really shouldn't have been as funny as it was, but after the stress and danger and terror, the urge to collapse crying became a mad giggle that Molly tried unsuccessfully to suppress.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>In a voice threatening to break with laughter, Arthur said, "Well, boys. That appears to be terribly inconvenient. Tell me-- you don't have to go to the loo anytime soon, do you?"</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>The room dissolved into hilarity again, and George began to gesticulate wildly, dragging Fred's arm along with him. "This isn't funny! Do you have any idea how utterly cracked this is?"</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Ron, who was nearly crunched into a fetal position leaning heavily on the kitchen counter for support, face contorted with mirth, wheezed periodically, "They're actually GrednForge!"</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Standing, Bill cleared his throat and managed to say in a very grave tone, "You know--he's right, this really isn't very funny." Which of course, was followed by another round of wild laughter.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>The sound of someone running down the stairs calmed the noise level in the room to a scattered chorus of coughing and whimpering. A slightly disheveled Remus Lupin appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, smoothing out wrinkles in his robes. Looking around the room, he surveyed the group of redheads in various states of disarray, wiping their eyes and holding their sides.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>"What The Bloody Hell Is going on here, exactly?"</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Fred marched up to Remus, dragging George along. "Professor Lupin, thank Merlin. Fix us!"</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>"Please?" George begged.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>"Or take us to St. Mungo's."</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>"Or Madame Pomfrey."</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>"Or Azkaban."</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>"Or anywhere our infernal family will stop laughing like a pack of wild hyenas."</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Together, they said, "Don't make us beg."</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Remus shook his head slightly, recovering from the tennis match conversation between the twins, before returning to staring at their hands. "Erm. Well. That's... wow. Interesting."</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>A small snicker escaped from behind a hand pressed tightly to Ginny's mouth and began another wave of much-needed laughter.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>"Great. We're conjoined AND rejected, not to mention homeless. What next?"</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>At the word "homeless", the room fell silent.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>With a sigh, Arthur pulled the miniaturized family clock from a hidden pocket in his robes and set it on the floor. He tapped it with his wand while murmuring the correct spell to return it to normal size and stepped back slightly.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Molly's hand flew to her lips again, this time to press in a sob, the other reached out to touch gently the cluster of clock hands dedicated to her beloved family. Hands all pointing to the station marked 'Home'. Arthur's hands squeezed her shoulders and she smiled a soft, lopsided smile.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>"Not quite, children. Not quite."</i>
  </i>
</p>
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